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Tuesday, June 30, 1998 Published at 00:05 GMT 01:05 UK
Business: The Economy
South African rand drops further
South African traders watch the rand fall
The South African rand has taken another battering on foreign currency markets, at times trading at more than six rand to the US dollar, before recovering slightly at the end of the day.
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| The BBC's Greg Barrow reports from Johannesburg |
The market turmoil in South Africa follows a further rise in interest rates and has placed more strains on the government's strategy of boosting economic growth and employment ahead of elections due in the next 12 months.
Global lack of confidence
The BBC correspondent in Johannesburg says that a global lack of confidence among foreign investors has hit South Africa's emerging market hard.
Politically the African National Congress (ANC) government is finding it increasingly difficult to justify its free market economic policies.
Almost one third of South Africans are out of work and the government of President Mandela had seen foreign investment as the key to reducing the widespread unemployment. But the economic crisis in Asia has made foreign investors more cautious towards emerging markets.
Our correspondent says the ANC's commitment to free market economics is placing strains on relations with its coalition partners and some analysts predict that the Communist party or the trade unions may go their own way after next year's elections.
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